gratitude, blessings, miracles...

Dear Family,

This past week was zone conference and it was incredible. President Nichols talked about how to recognize and understand the spirit. I had always been somewhat confused about specific experiences and whether or not the spirit was involved. I'm sure many people wonder the same thing. As I listened to President share experiences from his life I realized many things that I hadn't before. One major thing I realized was this; the more important the question we ask is, the more quickly Father in Heaven answers it.

We have been working with a sweet family. The father's name is Peter and his wife is Anita. They have a young son named John and he is deaf. Also Peter's Mom lives with the family. They are from Vietnam, but Anita is Tamilian. Peter and his Mom got baptized in our church many years ago and virtually haven't been since that time. His wife is a convert to christianity. But after certain trials in her life she had turned back to her hindu traditions. She wondered most why God would give her a deaf son. She asked us that question last week. I had NO idea what to say. But something told me to ask, what have you learned from this experience? She was then able to realize something significant about God and his purpose. We have been working slowly and teaching for understanding. But we both feel good about her and this family. With a lot of prayer and faith I think we can bring them ALL back to church.

We went out to the village on friday. Madhu has some family friends out there who wanted us to offer a prayer or something. Language problems often leave us in the dark. Details are hard to come by out here. So we make the journey to the village and it was sick. Ha we got to help some aunties make biryani. They cook in these massive pots. You just sort of throw all the ingredients in the pot and close the lid. Elder Schmidt loved it. I will send some pictures of the experience. We then had to offer a small prayer for the people there. The lady who was running the show was really nice. I think she was from the pentecostal church, but she spoke perfect english which was really a surprise to us.

We continue to see the hand of the Lord guiding us in our daily work. Little miracles keep occurring. We realize that as we express our gratitude for the blessings we receive, the Lord sends us more. What a concept! Anyway the studies are great and I find joy in feasting upon the words of the scriptures.

Love you all,
Elder Tuscano

(below are excerpts from individual letters to family)

I am doing my best to serve with all I have. There are setbacks and a lot of obstacles. But I have realized that as I trust in the Lord none of those things matter. I might not have the most baptisms, but I feel that the service I have rendered thus far has been accepted by our father in heaven. That’s really all that matters to me.

So one thing I wish I would have done before coming out here was go on exchange with the missionaries. We were encouraged to do that during my senior year but I just was not interested at the time. That’s too bad for me. This week we took an american who was visiting chennai on exchange. He is 18 and about to leave on his mission. We took him to an appointment friday night. I think it was a cool experience for him. I wish I would have done more of that.